Motor News

The 2022 Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups will be available with a new horizontally oriented 12.0-inch touchscreen first seen on the 2021 F-150.
Ford isn’t giving the Super Duty trucks any significant visual changes like the new F-150, though, just new color choices and appearance packages.
The 2022 F-250, F-350, and F-450 will be on sale this summer.
Ford is upping its screen game to compete with Ram’s vertically oriented touchscreens. The 2021 Ford F-150 got a slight overhaul with a new available horizontally oriented 12.0-inch screen (the same size as Ram’s), and now the Super Duty models, which get no other changes besides colors and appearance packages, will arrive for the 2022 model year with the bigger screens available, too. The 2021 F-150 is on sale now, and the 2022 Super Duty trucks will arrive this summer.

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Ford

To get the new 12.0-inch touchscreen you’ll have to select the Lariat model or above. They use Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. However, the Super Duty trucks don’t get the available 12.0-inch digital gauge cluster from the F-150. F-Series Super Duty XL models come standard with a 4.2-inch screen while XLTs get the previous model year’s 8.0-inch screen with Sync 3. Chevy and GMC’s heavy-duty trucks only have up to 8.0-inch screens available.

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The only visual tweaks for the 2022 Super Duty pickups include a new Atlas Blue exterior color, a Baja interior color for the Lariat, Navy Pier and Light Slate interiors for the Limited models, and some appearance packages for the F-250 and F-350. The new Lariat sport appearance package matches the Lariat model’s bumpers, mirrors, and grille with the exterior color and equips chrome exhaust tips and black running boards. Meanwhile, the black appearance package, previously only on the Lariat, is now available on the XLT. It includes black 20-inch wheels, body-colored bumpers and grille, running boards, and blacked-out Ford badges.
The Ford Super Duty comes standard with a 6.2-liter V-8 that produces 385 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque, though a 430-hp 7.3-liter V-8 and 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V-8 with 475 horsepower and 1050 lb-ft of torque are both available. Either rear- or four-wheel drive is available, as is a six- or 10-speed automatic transmission. Super Duty trucks can tow up to 24,200 pounds, but reach 37,000 pounds with a fifth-wheel and gooseneck hitch.
The 2022 Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks will be on sale this summer. Ford declined to comment on when they’ll receive a refresh with the new Pro Power Onboard generators available on the 2021 F-150.

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The SUV version of the GMC Hummer EV will debut April 3.
We already got an idea of what it will look like from a GM EV presentation.
The debut will occur online and during the NCAA Final Four broadcast at 5 p.m. on April 3.
The Hummer electric pickup’s SUV stablemate will be shown to the world soon, as GMC has announced that it will make its debut April 3. The reveal will happen at 5 p.m. Eastern time both online and during the NCAA Final Four basketball game broadcast.

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We’ve already gotten glimpses of the SUV version’s overall shape thanks to a GM presentation about future electric models, where this new bodystyle was clearly visible behind one of the presenters. It has the same face as the Hummer EV pickup, and we also expect it to share its platform, powertrain, and basic specs with the truck. That means it should offer the same three-motor EV3X and two-motor EV2X and EV2 models.
The same removable roof panels seen on the truck will likely be found on the SUV so that it can compete with models such as the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. The key differences between the truck and the SUV will be found inside, where the Hummer SUV may offer a third row of seats. The SUV also looks to have a spare tire mounted on the tailgate according to a teaser silhouette GMC released.

GMC

We expect the Hummer SUV to follow the pickup truck’s arrival by at least a year. With production of the loaded First Edition models scheduled to start this fall, the SUV likely won’t go on sale until late 2022 or early 2023. GMC says it will have more information to share later on about the Hummer SUV’s specs and on-sale date.
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A Pennsylvania state law has gone into effect giving delivery drones the right to operate on city sidewalks, and it also classified them as pedestrians.
This makes Pennsylvania the latest in a string of states, plus Washington, D.C., to let these delivery robots maneuver around towns.
Not everyone is a fan of these changes, including the National Association of City Transportation Officials, which is calling for a “comprehensive overhaul” of city streets to make automation work.
The legal rights of robots have expanded, at least in Pennsylvania. There, autonomous delivery drones will be allowed to maneuver on sidewalks and paths as well as roadways and will now technically be considered “pedestrians.” It’s the latest change in the evolving relationship between autonomous vehicles and humans.

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In Pennsylvania, the legal limits for autonomous delivery robots mean a maximum top speed of 12 mph in a pedestrian area, 25 mph on a roadway, and a load limit of 550 pounds. The Pennsylvania law was sponsored by state senator Ryan Aument and went into effect in January. Aument did not respond to Car and Driver’s request for comment.
Counting Pennsylvania, there are now a dozen states, including Virginia, Idaho, Florida, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., according to Axios, where it is legal for personal delivery robots to share the streets with people.

Amazon

FedEx

The benefits of autonomous delivery robots include a reduction in the need for large, potentially emission-heavy trucks to move in crowded cities and a reduction in the number of delivery drivers required to get the stuff people order online to them quickly. Of course, that last item is one reason groups like the Teamsters have come out against delivery robots. The National Association of City Transportation Officials has also issued a Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism that calls for more thought about adding self-driving robots to our streets. “Automation without a comprehensive overhaul of how our streets are designed, allocated, and shared will not result in substantive safety, sustainability, or equity gains,” the report said. Tech-friendly San Francisco even banned most sidewalk robots back in 2017.
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It takes a lot of artificial intelligence to get robots to safely navigate s crowded street. The Tamura Lab at Tohoku University in Japan has collected a list of factors autonomous vehicles should consider when interacting with pedestrians. That means avoiding “smartphone zombies,” or people who are walking while looking at a device instead of where they’re going, as well as using something called the “social force model” to try to understand a human’s intention about when they might change direction. In 2017, engineers at MIT created an autonomous robot that used socially aware navigation, to teach the AV to basically follow “the same rules as everyone else” regarding personal space and expectations about where to walk, one of the researchers said in a statement at the time. It’s not going to be easy to keep these knee-high robots moving alongside human pedestrians.
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The massive winter storm that hit Texas in February caused widespread damage to water and electric infrastructure, and it also shut down oil refineries in the state.
That meant fewer refinery byproducts were produced, which meant there was less polyurethane foam produced, which meant no foam for car seats—and now automakers might have to stop or slow production in March until replacement supplies can be found.
One anonymous auto executive told Automotive News that this is going to be a bigger problem than the microchip shortage the industry is already dealing with.
The Texas-size electric grid shutdown that made headlines last month continues to have an impact on people living in the state, but it may also now affect production of new automobiles. That’s because the state’s failure to prepare for the dramatic winter storm and the resulting power outages stopped local petrochemical plants from operating, which is having a domino effect on the foam required to make new vehicle seats.

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When the state’s processing plants had to shut down, they put a pause on refining oil, which meant that the oil refinery byproducts that eventually get used in seats (specifically the propylene oxide that’s needed for polyurethane foam) were also not being produced for a while. And that lack is now becoming evident to the automotive industry to the degree that, according to Automotive News, which broke the news, the looming foam shortage could alter automobile production starting next week, perhaps even Monday. Other sources said the impact might not be felt until later in March. But everyone seems to agree that finding alternative sources for seat foam is a priority right now.

Melissa Vaeth/GM

“Everyone is scrambling,” one unnamed auto-industry executive told Crain’s Detroit Business. “This problem is bigger and closer than the semiconductor issue.”General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, BMW, Hyundai, and Kia all told Automotive News that they’re monitoring the situation but do not have any production stoppages to announce just yet.
The devastating winter storm that hit Texas in mid-February was caused by a blast of cold Arctic air moving further south than usual. It wasn’t like the state didn’t have any warning, with a senior meteorologist working for the state’s unusual electric grid operator, ERCOT, writing in the days before the worst of the storm hit, “This period will go down in Texas weather history as one of the most extreme events to ever impact the state. Temperatures early next week will set widespread daily records that are likely to be the coldest experienced since the 1980s.”
A possible foam shortage is not the only supply chain issue that automakers have faced recently. Late last year, the industry was not able to source enough microchips for new cars, which forced at least eight automakers in North America and more around the world to adjust schedules at production plants. That shortage was driven by auto plant shutdowns that happened in early 2020 when the coronavirus started spreading across the globe. At the time, automakers lowered their orders for more chips, thinking they would not need them if the virus dramatically lowered demand for new cars. But demand bounced back sooner than expected and automakers quickly learned chip suppliers had by then promised their products to companies making consumer electronics.

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The reborn Land Rover Defender has been popular on both sides of the Atlantic in its two-door (90) and four-door (110, pictured above) sizes, so it’s not surprising that a three-row Defender 130 is coming.
The Defender 130 is expected to seat seven in a body about 201 inches long, about the same overall length as the Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.
The bigger Defender is targeted at North America as well as China and the Middle East, according to a Jaguar Land Rover executive.
While rumors of a larger version of the Land Rover Defender have been circulating since the stylish SUV was first announced—with a leaked document seemingly confirming its existence in 2019—the British company has now confirmed that the new three-row Defender 130 exists and is being readied for market.

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This news is no great surprise; buyers of rugged SUVs like the extra practicality of three-row versions. But it does confirm the importance of the Defender for Jaguar Land Rover’s bottom line, with the growing clan a sign of where demand is strongest. Defender sales have been accelerating strongly since it was launched last year, and despite the disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it made up 16 percent of the company’s total production in the last quarter of 2020 with that proportion set to grow dramatically this year.
The original Defender had model numbers referring to its wheelbase in inches and included commercial and pickup 130s, but never a three-row SUV like this. The new Defender has broken this naming convention with the 110 sitting on a 119-inch wheelbase that the 130 will share, but with overall length increased to around 201 inches, according to the leaked document, and could seat as many as eight.
Land Rover has confirmed the Defender 130 was discussed during a call between investors and JLR chief financial officer Adrian Mardell in February. Automotive News Europe quotes Mardell as saying, “The Defender 130 will hit a sweet spot in North America, China, and the Middle East, which we’re not yet touching.”
We don’t know which powerplants the 130 will get, but we would not be surprised if the entry-level P300 four-cylinder engine wasn’t adjudged worthy of such a gargantuan range topper. The recently announced supercharged V-8 version is a much more likely option, one that would come with a price comfortably over $100,000. Diesels will be available in other parts of the world, and Land Rover is set to launch a plug-in-hybrid Defender in some markets, one that combines the 296-hp four-cylinder engine with a 139-hp electric motor. There are no immediate plans to bring the plug-in to the States, but that might change in the face of toughening emissions requirements.
JLR has committed itself to a comprehensive transformation that will see the Jaguar brand turn EV only, and its entire existing model lineup axed, as soon as 2025. With the 130 plus the strong likelihood of other future variants, the Defender is going to play an increasing role in the company’s future.
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Whether you’re heading out with a Tesla Model 3 or a heavy-duty pickup, the Polydrops P17A is a lightweight camper claimed to help you stay cozily off the grid for up to six days.
Well, six days under certain circumstances, anyway. It all depends on the battery and solar configurations, as well as how long you run the all-electric HVAC system or the optional kitchenette appliances.
The P17A starts at $24,990 but can get over $36,000 with the largest battery pack and other options.
The Polydrops company’s story starts in 2017, when married couple Kyunghyun Lew and “J” Cha shifted away from architectural design and started working on a compact trailer prototype. Leveraging interest from electric-vehicle drivers and a year of increased demand due to the coronavirus, the pair came up with this off-grid, angular teardrop-style trailer meant to be towed by an EV.

Polydrops

Called the P17A, the space-capsule trailer features gullwing entry doors, solar panels on the roof and, just as in electric vehicles, batteries built into the floor that provide energy to the LED lights and appliances, which can include an air conditioner, heater, fridge, induction cooktop, and 110-volt outlet.
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While the P17A was designed with EV towing in mind, the company blog features pictures of all kinds of vehicles towing its lightweight camper, from a 1987 Chevy Corvette Z51 to a 2004 Toyota Prius, a 2011 Mini Cooper S Clubman R55 to a 1997 Mazda Miata.

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The P17A starts at $24,990 and can be upgraded with a kitchenette module ($1850) and a built-in bluetooth speaker ($500). The base P17A comes with 260W solar panels and 2.4 kWh of LiFePO4 batteries, which can be charged from the solar panels or a 110-volt inlet charging port. The solar panels can be upgraded to 520W for $800, and the battery capacity can be expanded up to 12 kWh. A 4.8-kWh battery costs an extra $2000, while the full 12 kWh costs $8000. Polydrops claims that a full charge of the 12.0-kWh battery can “power all components including a 5000-BTU air conditioner, heater, fridge, induction cooktop for more than six nights.”
But New Atlas reports that Polydrops calculates this six-day, off-grid experience by running the heater or air conditioner for three hours a day, the LED lights for four hours, the refrigerator for just 10 hours a day, and the Bluetooth speaker for seven hours.

Polydrops

The P17A uses a lightweight aluminum frame and an exterior with an anodized aluminum finish. The cozy baltic birch interior is large enough to fit a full-size mattress and a micro closet in the back. The kitchenette is accessible from inside the camper or from the outside when the rear access hatch is open. The kitchenette add-on includes an induction stovetop, a 20-liter fridge and a hand-pump sink with a 1.6-gallon fresh water tank. The exterior of the P17A measures 13 feet seven inches long, six feet wide, and five feet three inches tall, and the trailer weighs 1200 pounds. Polydrops designs and manufactures its trailers in California.
To see how efficient an EV could be with a P17A attached to the rear, check out Polydrops company’s posted results from a series of EV towing tests using a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range with stock 18-inch wheels.

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Audi’s freshly revealed RS e-tron GT has style, tech, and loads of power. From what we’ve seen of it so far, it looks like one hell of a solid luxury EV package. Unsurprising, since it’s based on the impressive Porsche Taycan. And just like its sibling, the Audi is one hell of a highway rocket.
This video, from YouTube’s Automann-TV, shows the RS e-tron GT doing multiple speed runs on the German autobahn and looking right at home while doing so. The car tested is on winter tires and starts off with 95 percent charge. The tester keeps the e-tron in Dynamic mode for all runs.

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In the first clip, the RS e-tron GT muscles its way down the autobahn to an indicated 256 km/h, or 159 mph. On its way there, it manages zero to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds and zero to 124 mph in 10.5 seconds. During a midrange power test, it does 62 to 124 mph in 7.1 seconds. All impressive feats of acceleration, especially for a 5139-pound machine.
Like most electric cars, the e-tron remains almost completely silent under hard acceleration. There’s just a mild amount of Jetsonian electric whirring sounds and a hint of wind noise.
The RS e-tron GT is the high-performance version of Audi’s new electric grand tourer. It has a 235-hp electric motor in the front and a 450-hp motor in the rear. Combined, it’s capable of a constant 590 hp, or 637 hp when using launch control, pretty substantial increases over the base model’s 523 hp. Audi estimates the RS can travel 232 miles on a full charge, but I’d imagine that would require slightly calmer driving than what’s shown in the video above.

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Long before we were recording Window Shop videos and working at C/D, before we even had driver’s licenses, we spent hours and hours in the family car. Presuming those vehicles played some role in our future love of cars and the people we became, we thought we’d tap into our childhood memories and find nice examples of the vehicles we grew up in.
You might suspect that our editors were exposed to fun and interesting autos at a young age, but the reality is closer to the 1984 Toyota Tercel that senior editor Joey Capparella’s father owned for more than 10 years. Actually, this explains a lot about Capparella’s love of normcore cars.
Like many children of the 1960s, contributor John Pearley Huffman grew up with a station wagon in the garage. Although the Huffman family’s ’65 Ford Country Squire looks incredibly cool today, it was decidedly uncool by the time Pearley got his license.Deputy testing director K.C Colwell’s parents had a long string of terrible vehicles that somehow didn’t taint young Colwell’s view of cars. When he was old enough to influence their choices, he suggested they buy a 1991 Ford Explorer. Clean, rust-free examples of early Explorers are hard to find, but Colwell locates a decent one for sale in Colorado, and it even has a manual transmission like the one his folks bought back in 1990.Having only glossed the challenge, contributor Jonathon Ramsey goes on and on about his first car, a Ford Festiva. After we discuss the tire sizes of the diminutive Mazda-based car, Ramsey eventually gets around to telling us about his mother’s second-gen Volkswagen Jetta, which he occasionally borrowed to avoid the embarrassment of driving around in the little Ford.
Finally, deputy editor Tony Quiroga shows us the 18.5-foot-long front-drive convertible behemoth that made a mere 215 horsepower from 500 cubic feet of displacement. We’d say it’s safe to assume that the cars your parents owned have little effect on car enthusiasm, and we’re thankful for that.
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